Beijing proclaims the goal of food self-sufficiency at a 95-percent level on a grain basis but there is inadequate data upon which to judge this feat. Goro Takahashi at Aichi University calculates that China’s food self-sufficiency is declining at more than 1 percent per year (see graph below). The Japanese would know since they have struggled with their own food self-sufficiency that has declined from 80 percent in 1960 to 37 percent today. While China claims agricultural production on a high percentage (54.7) of its land area, the amount of arable land available per person is less than half that of Japan. Key issues are soil quality and water availability. In recent years, China’s food exports have declined by 34 percen...
What You Need to Know Today: Commodities were mostly lower across the board today after yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting hinted at a potential interest rate hike later in 2026. The dollar index reached its highest level in over a year, and a strong dollar makes U.S. agricultural expor...
Tomorrow is the Juneteenth federal holiday, and the USDA, along with the rest of the federal government and the CME, will be closed, so the monthly Cattle on Feed report was released a day early. The total number of cattle on feed in feedlots with 1,000 head or more capacity on 1 June amounted...
From WPI Consulting
Infrastructure investment due diligence
On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.